Roderick Strong On Marina Shafir's AEW Debut Tonight, ROH Champion Also To Debut
Twelve matches have been announced for tonight's AEW Dark episode.
Tonight's show will feature two significant debuts β ROH Pure Champion Josh Woods and former MMA fighter turned WWE NXT Superstar Mafina Shafir.
Woods will make his AEW debut, just days after retaining over Brian Johnson at Saturday's Final Battle pay-per-view, which was the final ROH event for the time being. Woods will face Shawn Spears tonight. He took to Twitter and hyped the match up.
"There is purity in darkness @AEW #AEWDark #TheTechnicalBeast v #TheChairman @ShawnSpears," Woods wrote.
Shafir, who was released from WWE back on June 25, will debut against Kris Statlander tonight, with Orange Cassidy in Statlander's corner. NXT Cruiserweight Champion Roderick Strong, who is married to Shafir, sent a warning to Cassidy, apparently referring to how their husband Troy attended the AEW Dark tapings with his mother.
"OC better keeps those hands in his pocket or #SpiderboyTroy is gonna give him the business. #Theproblem," Strong wrote.
Shafir later tweeted a photo of she and her son, apparently backstage at the AEW Dark taping, and wrote, "Right before this picture, Troy whispered in my ear, 'Hey Ma, they ain't ready..' #TheProblem #MoldavianManiac #Stronghold #Family #AewDark #AEW"
Tonight's Dark episode will also feature the main AEW in-ring debut of Japanese star Mei Suruga. Suruga worked the AEW Women's World Title Eliminator Tournament filmed in Japan back in February, and has been at ringside for recent matches involving Emi Sakura, but this is her first AEW bout here in the United States. She will team with Sakura to face Riho and Ryo Mizunami tonight. You can see tweets from Suruga below.
Tonight's AEW Dark episode was taped a few weeks back at Universal Studios in Orlando. You can click here for spoilers. Below is the full line-up for tonight:
* Josh Woods vs. Shawn Spears
* Marina Shafir vs. Kris Statlander
* Nick Comoroto vs. Dean Fleming
* Lee Johnson and Brock Anderson vs. Tony Donati and Faboo Andre
* Jade Cargill vs. Valentina Rossi
* Nyla Rose vs. Zeda Zhang
* Riho and Ryo Mizunami vs. Emi Sakura and Mei Suruga
* Ryan Nemeth vs. Chuck Taylor
* Arjun Singh vs. Tony Vincita
* Tay Conti vs. Heather Monroe
* Angelico vs. Invictus Khash
* 2point0 and Daniel Garcia vs. Evil Uno, Colt Cabana and Alex Reynolds
AEW Dark airs each Tuesday night at 7pm ET. Stay tuned for more and join us later on for full coverage at 7pm ET. Below are related tweets:
There is purity in darkness@AEW #AEWDark
#TheTechnicalBeast v #TheChairman@ShawnSpears pic.twitter.com/bxbK9t2V4Rβ W O O D S (@WoodsIsTheGoods) December 13, 2021
OC better keeps those hands in his pocket or #SpiderboyTroy is gonna give him the business. #Theproblem https://t.co/IQtdrrBe4y
β Roderick Strong (@roderickstrong) December 13, 2021
My right and left men π https://t.co/NVs3feMt2x
β Marina Shafir (@MarinaShafir) December 13, 2021
Right before this picture, Troy whispered in my ear, "Hey Ma, they ain't ready.." #TheProblem #MoldavianManiac #Stronghold #Family #AewDark #AEW pic.twitter.com/C7g0n1Dk5Q
β Marina Shafir (@MarinaShafir) December 14, 2021
TONIGHT AEW DEBUTπ€
8 hours to go πhttps://t.co/uOGUbffQOy
π·@ScottLesh724 pic.twitter.com/EqZSxvq8wAβ Mei Suruga ι§Ώζ²³γ‘γ€π―π΅ (@Mei_gtmv) December 14, 2021
4 hours 30 mins to go #AEWdarkπ€https://t.co/uOGUbffQOy
5 hours 30 mins to go #ChocoProπ«https://t.co/zayFQmfhSd pic.twitter.com/kBpab5sJk6
β Mei Suruga ι§Ώζ²³γ‘γ€π―π΅ (@Mei_gtmv) December 14, 2021
4 hours to go #AEWdarkπ€https://t.co/UVHracfxi0
5 hours to go #ChocoProπ«https://t.co/OqyZNxUMlQ pic.twitter.com/oHTdSGj1Sr
β Mei Suruga ι§Ώζ²³γ‘γ€π―π΅ (@Mei_gtmv) December 14, 2021
3 hours 30 mins to go #AEWdarkπ€https://t.co/UVHracfxi0
4 hours 30 mins to go #ChocoProπ«https://t.co/OqyZNxUMlQ pic.twitter.com/kFqX9byyyW
β Mei Suruga ι§Ώζ²³γ‘γ€π―π΅ (@Mei_gtmv) December 14, 2021
3 hours to go #AEWdarkπ€https://t.co/UVHracfxi0
4 hours to go #ChocoProπ«https://t.co/OqyZNxUMlQ pic.twitter.com/RFGY2JBJk7
β Mei Suruga ι§Ώζ²³γ‘γ€π―π΅ (@Mei_gtmv) December 14, 2021
2 hours 30 mins to go #AEWdarkπ€https://t.co/UVHracfxi0
3 hours 30 mins to go #ChocoProπ«https://t.co/OqyZNxUMlQ pic.twitter.com/x57nM9bG4G
β Mei Suruga ι§Ώζ²³γ‘γ€π―π΅ (@Mei_gtmv) December 14, 2021